Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood has condemned a UN draft declaration on women's rights, claiming the document violates Islamic Law. The party outlined ten reasons why women in Muslim countries should not have the proposed rights.

The document, “End Violence Against Women,” is planned to be
ratified on Friday by the UN Commission on the Status of Women and
is now being negotiated as part of the 57th session.

The Muslim Brotherhood, in a statement on its official website,
claims that the articles of the declaration “are destructive
tools meant to undermine the family as an important
institution.” The Islamists claim the document would
“subvert the entire society and drag it to pre-Islamic
ignorance.”

Among the clauses which the organization finds offensive are an
article that would enable women to choose the gender of their
partners; use of contraceptives by teenagers; and a clause that
allocates equal rights for homosexuals and protection for sex
workers.

Some other articles the Egyptian leadership finds challenging
include granting “equal rights to adulterous wives and
illegitimate sons resulting from adulterous relationships” and
giving wives “full rights to file legal complaints against
husbands accusing them of rape or sexual harassment.”

“The Muslim Brotherhood urges the leaders of Islamic
countries and their UN representatives to reject and condemn this
document,” the party said in the statement.

The issue of Muslim women marrying non-Muslim men has also been
condemned in the outline.

Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen also found unacceptable a call for
“cancelling the need for a husband’s consent in matters like
travel, work, or use of contraception” and rejected the idea of
abolishing “polygamy, dowry, men taking charge of family
spending.”

The 57th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status
of Women (CSW) is comprised of 45 countries united by a goal of
stopping violence against women worldwide. However, the “End
Violence Against Women” report has seen objections coming from
Russia, the Vatican, Iran and Egypt.

Cairo, for instance, is seeking to recognize that sovereign
countries have the right to ignore elements of the declaration
which would conflict with their religious values.

Moscow, the Vatican and Tehran meanwhile voiced concerns over
emergency contraception, abortion and treatment of sexually
transmitted diseases. Gay rights and sexual and reproductive
rights, they argue, should also be decided by each nation
separately.

The CSW is part of the UN Economic and Social Council. It was
launched in 1946 with annual summits aimed at setting global gender
equality policies.